Twice The Love! (And Then Some!)

So, apologies for the long time without blogging, but man, have I been busy! (I know, everyone says that and . . . well, everyone's telling the truth.:D)

But enough of my puny apologies. It's time for my annual Valentine's Day ARC Contest!!! But this year is a little different. And monumental in my not-so-humble-opinion.;) I have TWO books coming out this year. Not only two books, but I also have my very first short story coming out!!! This means than I have not one ARC, not two, but THREE ARCs to give away!!! Ep. Ic.

So in order, here are the books I have coming out this year:

April 30, LIFE AFTER THEFT, which is already getting excellent reviews from the pros (Kirkus, Booklist) as well as bloggers (Melania and Midnight Book Girl)

*Warning: Reviews are, by nature, always a little spoilery and MBG in particular did a very smart but in-depth review, so if you want to avoid spoilers here are my favorite, totes non-spoilery, lines from each review:

Melania: It's edgy, witty, fresh, entertaining, and very appropriate to the characters. No wonder this is the book that got her on the publishing agent's radar.

MBG: I was not expecting this book to be this good, but I really, really liked it.  It was unexpected, and even more unexpected, it's a standalone!  God bless you, Ms. Pike!  See, authors, it's totally possible to write a YA Paranormal that doesn't get stretched out over at least 3 books!


And, of course, my PRETTEH COVER!!!






So this one is April 30. Did I mention April 30? Yeah, cuz it'll be out in April. Just sayin'.;)



Next up in the anthology, DEFY THE DARK which comes out June 18th!


So, I have a confession; despite the fact that most authors seem to love writing short stories, do it for a break from novels, and actually consider it fun, there's a reason this is my debut published short story. I'm not very good at them. I think they're HARDER than long stories. So when my lovely fabulous friend Saundra Mitchell, who is editing the antho, called me up and invited me to be in it, I told her that I would, but that I couldn't promise my story would be any good. She took a chance on me. 


And I came up with an awesome idea in the wee hours of the morning that I *barely* remembered when I woke up all the way.


I think it turned out pretty good. I'm seriously proud of this story and as soon as the ARC came I read it again and STILL liked it!! Whoo-hoo!


It's called NATURE and, oddly, it's a dystopia. I didn't think I would write a dystopia anything--because I am too big of a "The Giver" snob. But I did! And so even though you are only getting 40 pages from me, I am giving away the whole ARC so it will have almost four HUNDRED more pages of awesomeness!!! (Thus the And Then Some in the title of this post.;))


Here is DEFY THE DARK's awesome cover!!!




And last but not least, my new SERIES!!!!! It's a full six months away, July 30 (Just a few days after my birthday, Happy Birthday to ME!!!) but EARTHBOUND is on its way as well!!!


It's too far out for EARTHBOUND to be getting reviews yet, but watch for them! They've just started sending the ARCs out!! What I can tell you is that Earthbound is about Tavia, the sole survivor of a plane wreck, who can break the laws of physics, and may have literally doomed all of humankind by falling for the wrong guy. I am so stoked about this book! I am working with a different editor on EARTHBOUND than the WINGS series, and she has stretched me in all kinds of different ways and I can't wait to share the results with you!!!


Also, there a freaking lot of kissing. Just, yanno, in case you're interested.;)


And here is EARTHBOUND's cover of awesome!!!!!




So, contest time. Well, let's talk prizes first. Guys, this is the biggest giveaway I have EVER done!!! I am so stoked about this year I just can't help it!!!!


Okay, there will be two First Prize Winners who will get a set of all three books (signed, of course!) Plus the tradition bag of Valentine's Day candy!


Three Second Prize Winners will get their choice of any of the three ARCs (it will be first come, first served for choices ;)) plus a WINGS book of their choice. Plus the V-day Chocolate.

Five Third Prize Winners who get their choice of any of the WINGS books and chocolate to keep them company while they read. ;)


And then, instead of the ten Fourth Prize Winners, there will be TWENTY. (Yes, I am crazy excited!!!) who will get the Valentine's day candy bags.


So that is 17 books and 30 bags of candy up for grabs.


What do you have to do? Well, the best way is to pre-order my prequel to LIFE AFTER THEFT, called ONE DAY MORE.


Oh wait, did I mention that I'm a big fat liar and I have yet another story coming out??? Ooops. *wink* I don't know just what to call it--I guess it's a short story, but I just think of it as a prequel. ONE DAY MORE is about 10K words or 30 pages long (I always like readers to know what they are getting into with an E-Story) and is a glimpse into my ghost character, Kimberlee's, life before she was a ghost. It was incredibly fun to write because, even though Kimberlee is an incredibly dynamic character, LIFE AFTER THEFT is not from her point of view. ONE DAY MORE is.

ONE DAY MORE is up for pre-order at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble and comes out April 2, which gives you time to read it and start massively salivating for LIFE AFTER THEFT four weeks later!!! (Yes, I'm so mean . . . If it helps, I TOTALLY feel bad about that. *shifty eyes*)


So now we have points:

5 Points for pre-ordering ONE DAY MORE (Honor system here people, a prize is not worth the STAIN ON YOUR SOUL for lying!!! Uh, yeah, whatever, I trust ya'all.:D)

2 Points for following me on Twitter, (@AprilynnePike) because I am jonesing to hit 10,000 followers by the time LIFE AFTER THEFT comes out!! If you are already following me on Twitter, you get two points too. Because I'm nice like that.:D

1 Point for mentioning my books on Twitter (put @AprilynnePike and I'll see you)

1 Point for mentioning me on FaceBook. (I totally won't see you there, but I still trust you.:D)

1 point for mentioning my books on your blog, Tumblr, whatever, you get the point. Social media equals a point.:D

So comment below (or of you're reading this on FaceBook PLEASE go to my blog to comment) and tell me what you did and how many points you get, and you get an entry for every point you scored. Super easy! (And if you need to add on just comment again and add points.:))

Entries need to be posted by MIDNIGHT on Valentine's Day, MY time. (MST at the moment.) Contest void where prohibited or otherwise altered by legal restrictions!

This contest is open internationally, however, I don't know how accessible the pre-order to ONE DAY MORE is outside of the US, so international readers may just not be able to get those points. I sowwy!!!

I will announce winners on February 15th and then we will do all the wrangling on getting addresses, book choices, etc.

I SO appreciate all of you guys who help me spread the love every year, and especially those who spread the love all year long!!! This is how I say THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Ciao!